Opinion

Why Should the Public Trust Journalists?

A long-time journalist looks outside his practice for answers.

‘Things Are Not OK.’

An author argues that journalism’s watchdogs are being silenced by greed.

Can the Press Win Back the Public’s Confidence?

A First Amendment lawyer argues it must.

Newspapermen and Lawyers

[July 1960] – I propose to speak tonight on a moderately pretentious topic, the public responsibilities of newspapermen and lawyers.…As my concern is public responsibility in our professions, I want…

1992: We Weren’t Listening

By not tapping into rap’s message of violence media failed to prepare public for rampage.

1962: Prince Edward’s ‘Massive Resistance’

A school library in Farmville, Virginia. From plaintiffs’ exhibits—photographs filed in Dorothy E. Davis, et al. versus County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, Civil Action No. 1333. Photo…

1962: The Reporter in the Deep South

[This article originally appeared in the April 1962 issue of Nieman Reports.]In “Absolom, Absolom!,” one of William Faulkner’s great Gothic novels of Yoknapatawpha county, Quinten Compson goes to Harvard and…

1948: The South and the South’s Problem

Troops escort nine black students into Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Associated Press Photo, courtesy of The Associated Press.[This article originally appeared in the April…

1948: The Southern Revolt

[This article originally appeared in the April 1948 issue of Nieman Reports.]As a personal preface to these comments, I would like to point out that they have been delayed because…

1978: Covering the Real Politics

Busing students to Hyde Park (Boston) High School in 1974. Photo by Paul Connell, courtesy of The Boston Globe.[This article originally appeared in the Summer 1978 issue of Nieman Reports.]…I…